KQ 2026 Mystery Quilt - Parts 1 & 2

This year I have decided to take part in the local quilt group mystery quilt-a-long.  As an added challenge to myself, I have decided to only use stash fabrics - you know, those bits'n'pieces that are left over from previously completed projects that we all have.

There are no fabric requirements being given out, only a finished size and what the element needs to be.  The instructions are very minimal, which I am loving because my creative muse can come out to play.

Month 1 had to include red.  Bring out a Baltimore Applique book and look at the papercuts.  I love this frame on the animal print fabric.

Animal print fabric is circa 2025 and the red is from 1998.

In the two photos below, I really love the monkey and the tiger peeking out from behind the applique.

Month 2 is curves with repeated elements.  I had ideas of circus tent stripes when I first read the prompt in the group newsletter.  It has taken me most of the month to figure out the fabrics and design while I went about my normal life.  In the end, a piece of leftover 'quilting made easy' border roll was the answer.  I cut it out along one side and then traced the pattern onto the cheddar fabric.  An afternoon of quiet hand-applique and it was done.

The green and yellow fabrics are circa 2012 or thereabouts.  It's "all the things" in this quilt.

I am excited to see what the upcoming June prompt will be.  While I wait for the next prompt, I am contemplating how to make this 'quilt as you go'.  I am not sure if it will work or not, it all depends on what I think up for the next prompt design.  Right now, my brain has plenty of ideas for quilting in and around the applique.  I will ponder this before I jump in with both feet.

Daisy Patch

 Another UFO is completed!  This is one from my 1.5years of patiently waiting quilts to have the binding finished, and now it's done-done!  

Daisy Patch was a fun, easy, happy project to make.  Take 12 Fat Quarters, some fabric for applique and away you go.

The fat quarters that I used were in the Aldi "special buys" when it was Mother's Day a few years ago.  They have a calico base and required a very hot wash to soften them.  After washing, the fabrics were a dream to work with.

Large 1/2 square triangles meant that the quilt top went together very quickly.  Good pressing made my blocks nice and flat to make the machine applique easy.

After the applique was completed, it came time to quilt the quilt.  Initially, I took it to a friend's house to use her DSM which had a frame and we had quite a few issues with the thread tension as well as both of us trying to squeeze it in on a bleak weather Friday night.  In the end, I pulled out what we had quilted, which was simple and open and replaced the quilting with what you can see here in the pictures.

I traced the flower shape and randomly traced around it on the quilt top.  I then 'squiggled' in between the flower shapes, going around them when I got to them.  I outlined the appliques on the outside edges and around the flower centres.

       

The piece of fabric for the backing was not quite big enough, so I used the rest of the fat quarters and made more large half square triangles for an insert panel in the backing.

The quilting does show up quite well on the backing - you can see it, but it's not overpowering.

           

Finally, here is the completed quilt in it's entirety.  I love this pattern and I really like the quilt.  Unfortunately, because it sat folded up for so long, waiting for the binding to be finished, you can see the fold-lines in the quilt.  However, with some loving use, they will disappear.

This quilt will become a donation quilt.  I'm just not sure where yet.

The free pattern for this Daisy Patch quilt can be found here: Daisy Patch Pattern

Bungarra Court gets its day to shine!

What seems like a long time ago now, 2010 to be precise; the local quilt shop I was working in at the time was running a mystery quilt, led by one of the Tutors - Carol.  I challenged myself to make the quilt with only stash.  Turns out I had enough stash, except for 1m to make the entire quilt, including the backing and binding.

Each week a new clue was given out, until you received them all and were able to put the quilt together.  Unfortunately, there was a hiccup and the template printing for the angled squares had not been set to 100%, so some fudging was required.

Three different blocks were made, the easiest being the 'focus' fabric because you only had to cut it into squares!

 

How the blocks play together in the final layout is amazing, there is interplay between a diagonal chain, large stars and square-in-a-square blocks.

I got the quilt top together, which was a bit difficult, due to the before-mentioned error in the angled squares, got the borders on with some fudging - just, and I mean just, enough fabric for the borders.

Onto the backing!  I started by piecing together the leftovers, including the littlest pieces.  Then I hunted through my stash for a nice large piece to complete it.  Voila - there was enough - phew!

I made the binding, found a thread that I liked for the machine quilting, and then bundled the quilt up, put it away and waited for cooler weather before quilting it.  Well....... it sat, put away until a couple of house moves later and the year 2022 - yep, 12.5 years after starting it...  I hear that quilts, like a good wine or cheese, only improve with age  ;)  

In 2022, my friend Lizzie of Thimble and Thread Quilting was having a "sale" on quilts of a certain size and this one fitted into that category.  So, I bundled it up and took it to her.  Well.... let's just say, poor Lizzie did not have a very easy time of it - turns out one of my borders was 'wavy'.  She did an amazing job of the quilting.  We chose a nice grey-blue thread and a plant/leaf/morris style for the edge-to-edge design.

Finally, just 10 days ago, I put the final stitches into the binding and added the label.  This was timed to be able to give the quilt to my friend JMc, for a fundraiser, supporting Destiny Rescue at a "Gather the Girls" event which was held last weekend.

 My quilt was put into the silent auction on the night and raised $500.00AUD for the charity.  It is very heartwarming to know that my quilt is going to be loved and some young girls will be saved from the horrors of trafficking.  Sadly, other commitments had prevented my from attending the night, but I was kept well informed of all that happened by my friend.

It's a block party!

Blocks, blocks and more blocks!  During the 'down-time' that is the week between Christmas and New Year, I discovered that a "block party" was going to happen during the year.

The lady running it is local to me, which is very nice and it's fun to be able to catch up with some of the other participants from time to time.

I am such a sucker for a sampler quilt.  I really didn't want to buy anything for this project, so I pulled out an untouched bundle of Fat Quarters and background fabric that I had purchased for a different project, gave them a wash and got started.  Thank goodness I washed the fabrics - there was quite a bit of colour run from some of the darker prints.  eeekkk....

Chosen fabric pack + grey sashing/border fabric.

Some of the blocks are funky and modern, others more traditional.  I'm loosely following the colours announced by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge each month, with the aim of having a nice colourwash across my quilt top.

January Blocks - Blue

These blocks are fun to make and at 6in finished, they are a nice size and not too fiddly.  

February Blocks - Pinkish

I decided not long after starting this project that I would set my blocks with sashings and cornerstones.  I cut all of the sashing pieces in the first week and the cornerstones are being cut from left over block fabrics.  So far, as I have completed the full set of blocks each month, I have immediately attached the sashings and cornerstones, which hopefully will speed up the final construction when it happens.

March Blocks - Green

The colour for April is purple and I am yet to start the April blocks.  I usually wait until the last weekend of the month, make them all at once and then put the tub away again.  I have found that this works for me and frees my mind to work on other things in-between.

What types of quilts are you a sucker for? 

A Panel Challenge!

At the start of March, a challenge by Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts was issued - A Panel Challenge.  Take a panel which has been languishing in your stash for a long time and make something from it.

I discovered that for a person who really does not like panels very much, that I have 10 of them!!

This panel I had initially purchased to make a tote bag with.  I really couldn't think of what else to do, but somehow had never gotten around to doing just that, until now.  BUT, I did start working again on a reverse hand applique UFO that needed a better bag than the torn paper shop bag I was using; AND Shelly had issued the panel challenge about the same time - talk about serendipity coming into play!

I do not remember how old this panel is, only that I have had in my stash for more than 10 years.  The Jacobean style flowers on it are gorgeous and the flowers in the vase with the red frame remind of those old tapestry fire-place screens.

The writing on the right hand side of the picture is instructions for turning the panel into a quilt.  I still have those instructions for using as a feature piece on another quilt sometime in the future.

The other half of the panel was these vines with leaves on them.  I managed to used three of the vines in making the back panel of the tote bag.  The remaining vine strip has also been put aside for a future use.

Because I wasn't completely sure how this bag was going to go together and I was determined to only use what I have on hand to make it, I auditioned some fabrics from my stash to see what would and wouldn't work.  In the end I kept it very simple by using the gold/cream print for the lining and the dark teal/blue tone-on-tone leaf print for the borders, handles and gusset pieces. 

I made the back of the bag first because that had more piecing and cobbling together and I had to do some cutting and joining of the vine strips to make them the same length as the flower row.  The printing of the flower squares was quite "off grain" which meant careful cutting and joining together to get something resembling straight.

The front of the bag was simply a case of trimming the edges straight and adding borders to bring it up to the same size as the back.

Super simple gusset construction with easy rectangles for the base and side panels.  I then made a second bag body with the lining fabric, added the handles, top-stitched around the top of the bag to stop the lining from pulling out and sewed up the turn hole on the inside and it was done!  Two half days of work and it was done!

I did not use any wadding/batting because I want it to squash down for easy packing with travel projects and then it can 'flop open' on a table at sewing days.

The front of the bag is shown above and the back of the bag is shown below.

And... inside the bag is the above-mentioned reverse applique project from 2012 which I have not touched since 2012 until a couple of months ago - oops - that I put into this bag so my new tote bag from a panel has an intended purpose.

A "one-off" bag that I am very happy to have made and I met the challenge requirements too!!  

**  There is no pattern for my Panel Bag.  I made it up as I went along with ideas jotted in my notebook.  
 

Succumbing to Serendipity

During this peculiar time when we are to be "self isolating" and practising "social distancing", some great quilt shops/companies are putting out fun things we can do while stuck at home.  What good quilter doesn't mind getting a fun pattern, which uses up stash scraps and makes something fun?

Moda Fabrics and Miss Rosie's Quilt Co have provided the pattern Village free online for Quilters  worldwide while there is a global pandemic going on.

This pattern makes good use of 5in squares, perfect for all of those batiks I have stashed away! 

The bundle of yummy batik 5in squares comes from an impulse buy in April 2019 at the Australiasian Quilt Convention.  They simply leapt into my hands as soon as my eyes saw them.  With 171 pieces in the pack, I then had to cut another 130 pieces out of others in my stash.  I had no idea that I had 130 bits of fabric which co-ordinate together!

The background is a Moda Bella Solid, which makes the house fabrics really pop.

Seems like I can start immediately!!  I think it's serendipity.  I've been looking at house quilt patterns for ages and this one seems to have fallen in my lap!

And..... here's the first part... the roof tops..... all cut, ready to chain piece.

Here they are, all ready to meet the walls....

Then came the cutting for the walls.... look at all of that glorious colour!

To be closely followed by assembled house fronts

The roofs met the walls...

Now they are turning into a "proper" village....

oohhh - love, love, love.

Paper Doilies, Log Cabins and a very quilty week...

Last week was so very, very quilty!  Lots of sewing time to be had. 😊

It was a wonderful week. Tuesday was 3 hours with a group, followed closely by Thursday which was slow stitching at a local shop for 2.5 hours.  I took an English Paper Piecing  (EPP) project.

My "doily" so far.  There's still another round to attach,
but I haven't chosen the colour yet.

The diamond spaces are left blank for the
background to show through.

This is my "Paper Doily" project which I started in 2019 at a class with Leesa Chandler.  I attended the class so that I could learn something new.  I had never realised all the other possibilities before of using paper pieces to make up patterns like this.  I had always attached them to each other and thought that was it.  Once the final round is attached, the whole piece will be appliqued onto a background.  Such a fun thing to do with some stash fabric and paper pieces.

Friday was the day for my local quilt group.  I had plans to take my machine and continue working on Specky Stars, however, other things called me away and I didn't get there.

On Saturday, 29/02 - Leap Year Day - I attended a 10am-10pm sewing day with a group 1 hour away.  I took a scrappy red/white log cabin of my own design to work on.  I spent quite a bit of time both before and after Christmas cutting into my red and white leftovers from previous projects (scrap) stash.  Being 100% cut out and having lots of chain piecing, which is very repetitive, was a fantastic thing to do while catching up with friends.

I stood up and looked over the back of my machine
for this shot.  Lots of chain piecing.

Plastic tub with each piece cut and in piecing
order from the centre out.

With a bit of luck, this log cabin quilt will hopefully be published into a pattern.  It's been quite a while since I last ran a class and wrote a proper pattern.

On top of pattern writing and making the relevant quilts, I have a self-imposed goal of completing 9 quilts by the end of July and 4 of those quilts I plan to exhibit.  A couple will become gifts, 1 is for a class and the other 2 I am not sure where they are headed to yet.

I'm feeling as 'pleased as punch' right now.  My goals are on track and I've spent some very precious time with some very special people.   Life is good.

Strippy 4 patch

A few years ago, I had purchased a charm square pack - American Primer by Moda - to make up a quilt of my own design.  So I chose a complimentary taupe fabric to use for setting the blocks in.

I drew up some ideas, simple ones such as 4 patches, pinwheels and so forth.  I made the first 4 patch and the edges didn't meet.  Made another one, still not matching.  Ruler out, no, my cutting and quarter inch seam were fine.  Still not matching up and pieces being different sizes.  Turns out the 5in squares were actually 5 x 4-7/8, when I actually thought to measure a 5in square before cutting it!!!  How did I not notice that?

 

OK - deep breath - make all the 4 patches and then trim them to a smaller size, finishing at 3.5in, in the quilt.  Quite a bit smaller than I had originally intended, but easy enough to work with.

Trimmings!!

But then after the frustration of the 5in squares not being 5in square, followed by the trimming, I ended up with such lovely neat and very cute little blocks.

All neatly trimmed and ready to chain piece the setting triangles to the blocks.  Ahhh.... bliss.....

Given how much I love strip quilts, it was an easy leap to set the 4-patch blocks on point and set them with taupe triangles, even if the cutting did have to be a little bit fussy to make the pinstripe run up and down the quilt.

A nice large piece of gorgeous Japanese border type print, which was fussy cut along the printing lines to make up the alternate strips.

Detail showing the Japanese woven fabric panels (before quilting).

The backing uses a remaining piece of stripe plus this gorgeous Toile scene type print.  

Detail showing the quilting.

Each panel was quilted according the pattern in each strip.

I decided to turn it into a coverlet, which is an old style where the wadding is left out, but it is still quilted and bound to make a light weight summer quilt.  This was a challenge because the fabric needed a good hot steam press after quilting to get rid of the ripples caused by quilting only 2 layers.

A piece of red, leftover from my son's quilt last year was just enough to make the binding for this one and it was the perfect shade of red!  When sewing the binding down, it was sometimes difficult to get the thread just in between the two layers of fabric.

And finally, here it is, hanging at the Victorian Quilters Showase in July in the Coverlets category.....

......  No, I didn't win a prize for this one, but that's okay because I am very pleased with how my coverlet turned out AND... I learnt some new skills with regards to how fabric and thread behave when you quilt without wadding.

Sometimes all you need is serendipity and time to make something you love.